OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE - LESSON LEARNED #1: STOP, EXHALE, RECALIBRATE BUT CONTINUE…..



OOPS,  WHAT THE HECK DID I GET INTO ??????????

Growth, they say is Vulnerability + Courage, or in other words a combination of ‘stepping out of the comfort zone’ and persistence. The past few weeks have been a deep dive into oceans of unfamiliarity. This ten part series captures some key lessons learnt about one’s mind, how to understand how it plays with you and yes, how best to make it work for you.


LESSON LEARNED #1: STOP, EXHALE, RECALIBRATE BUT CONTINUE…..

The heart always craves for more - For over 20 years as I snorkeled in some wonderful spots across the world, ever so often, espying a scuba diver meters below would make me wistful!!! I often wondered how that experience might be like closer to the ‘action.’ So finally, I bit the bullet and along with my wife and14 year daughter signed up for a four-day scuba diving course in the Andaman islands last month.

Shaken and Stirred

Twenty minutes into the training, my confidence was shaken!!! I struggled with following the specific steps required in assembling and disassembling the scuba gear. My instructor’s lack of patience did not help either. At one point, he coldly barked out – “you just blew up your oxygen cylinder – if it had been full!” Finally, after five attempts, I sorta got the hang of things…just sorta…

Then it was time to learn to learn the skills in waist deep water. Learning how to flush out water from one’s mask, finding the oxygen regulator if misplaced etc, proved to be quite challenging for all of us! Suffice to say, the experience was not fun and we found ourselves asking the question – why the heck am we putting ourselves through this???? One slightly acerbic comment from the instructor finally broke the proverbial camel’s back.  We had had enough!

The course was called off. Went back to our comfortable resort nursing a bruised ego! For the next 24 hours, just vegged. Ate, played board games, walked on the beach, read a book, etc. The sting of disappointment (of ‘giving up’) diminished and gradually our morale improved.


The Importance of 'Pausing'

As it turned out, this ‘pause’ turned out to be amazingly restorative. Our minds and hearts had been cleared, and it’s quite wonderful how the universe aligns to support you. We got into a conversation and learnt about a ‘discovery dive.’ This requires little training (all of it we had already completed) and each diver is accompanied by a trained instructor who manages the scuba equipment leaving one to simply enjoy and discover the wonders of the underwater world.






This seemed awesome and we signed up. And man, what an awesome experience it was. My first dive took me nine meters under water and it was amazing to see and interact with the corals and the fish at close proximity. A 45 minutes experience had me wanting for more. So, did another dive the next day! Almost as good! A huge bonus was having my 14-year daughter experience these two dives as well. She is ready to sign up for the longer course!

Reset and Go! 

There have been instances in the past, where I had just given up after the first ‘fall.’ This experience highlighted the value of pausing, given the mind, heart and time to come back to equilibrium, allowing for opportunities to emerge and then responding rather than succumbing to first reactions!!!

Actually, this is indeed among the first lessons one learns in diving. When one feels pain while descending, the recommended steps are – pause, ascend, wait for the pain to clear, equalize pressure and then when the pain disappears, to continue. Interesting parallels…


While the dive into the waters was fascinating, the deeper dive into oneself was indeed more exhilarating and deeply gratifying! 

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